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Friday, August 6, 2010

You know that feeling when everything has been packed and you are doing that last walk through, making sure you got everything. You look at the empty rooms and feel a bit melancholy because you realized that despite the barren floors and walls, they are not empty. The memories of times spent there flood the void.

So you'll excuse me feeling a bit sad as I cooked my last meal on our deck tonight. I had cleared everything off of the deck except the Big Green Egg, for tomorrow's demolition.

[Cue music: It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday]

I smoked my first pork butts, ribs, and brisket all on this deck. There are burn marks and grease stains on this deck and it has worn them as a badge of honor. The best meals I have ever eaten and some of my catastrophic failures were cooked on this deck. As much as I'm looking forward to my new deck, I'll be verklempt as it is torn down tomorrow night.

For the "last dance" tonight, I did my entry for the Burger Club Challenge at Cinnamon, Spice and Everything Nice. This month's challenge is rather flexible - any burger by Bobby Flay.

I decided to make Bobby's Sante Fe Burger. You can view the recipe here. This is basically a chili verde burger with a cheese sauce and blue corn tortilla chips crumbled on top to "crunchify" it in Bobby's terms.

I charred the pepper on all sides... (Tip: Don't be bashful about getting it extra charred when grilling or broiling your peppers. If you only get spots here and there, you are going to have a harder time peeling it even after resting it in a bag.)Grilled the burgers....And while the burgers rested I made the queso sauce. A part of the challenge is to do the recipe AS EXACTLY AS POSSIBLE so your rating will be of the dish as written. I did vary one tiny bit with the sauce. Instead of salt and pepper, I used a bit of my homemade chili powder from last week.My Rating (based on the challenges 4 point system)3 Stars = Liked and will make againI probably would have gone with a 4 Stars = Loved! Will make often rating but I made a similar sauce on my own last year that uses my smoked pepper jack cheese and that sauce outshines this one. The crunchiness of the tortilla chips didn't distract like I thought they might and Alexis just LOVED them.

Mighty fine burger there Chris! Well... since it has been 15 years at least (maybe even longer) since I last moved I haven't experienced that in awhile, but when I sold my parents house after Mama died I went through that experience with that house. Lots of my teenage experiences were associated with it, and that last glance before walking out the door that last time was very odd, so I think I can relate to the deck thing. BUT just think, you are getting something brand new and the exact way that you want it to start all sorts of memories over!

I'm somewhat sentimental so I know exactly what you mean about taking that one last look. I'm so glad to see you participate in the burger club challenge. It's right up your alley! I chose the Crunchburger topped with potato chips and we really liked it. This one looks delicious. I'm loving the idea of the queso sauce.

Dude I did not even know that you were redecorating! It sucks while it's happening but hopefully the end result will be worth it.

I hate moving. I would happily stay in my two by nothing apartment for the rest of my life. Unless some fabulous man wants to sweep me away and move all my stuff for me into a park avenue penthouse. That would be okay.

The burger looks fabulous (of course) and I'm glad you did a final "old deck" post. If it were me, I'd make something from the old deck boards like a little table or a big frame for an outdoor chalkboard. I'm just that way. :)

Your burger looks awesome! I almost made that burger but changed my mind and ended up making the Cheyenne burger. Well, I'm actually making it tonight and will be posting it tomorrow. I hope mine comes out as good as yours.

Ummm, makes me want a burger, but I heard on the news that some tainted ground beef infiltrated Safeway and the area we are in of AZ, so none for me on this trip, but I will dream of yours...love the chilies on the grill!